Shining a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls. Also providing advice for writers, industry news, and commentary. Writer Beware is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.

February 14, 2019

Publishizer bills itself as "the world's first crowdfunding literary agency." What does that actually mean? From the company's FAQ:

Publishizer is a crowdfunding platform that matches authors with publishers. Authors write proposals, readers pre-order copies, and publishers express interest to contact authors. Publishizer queries publishers based on pre-orders milestones at the end of the campaign. The author receives a range of offers, and selects the best one.

As near as I can figure (Publishizer's FAQ and Terms of Use are annoyingly non-specific about the details of the process), here's how it works. Authors post their proposals on the Publishizer website, offering perks and incentives, Kickstarter-style, to encourage readers to pre-order. If the campaign reaches 250 pre-orders, Publishizer pitches the proposal to its independent publisher partners. A 500 pre-order benchmark garners a pitch to traditional publishers (which Publishizer defines as high advance-paying publishers that don't charge fees). Below 250 pre-orders, the pitch is to "hybrid" and "service" publishers (i.e., companies that do charge fees).

Campaigns are active for 30 days. Once they end, Publishizer releases pre-order income to the authors (authors keep the money they raise, regardless of how many pre-orders they generate). Authors are then responsible for fulfilling the pre-orders or persuading their chosen publisher to do so--or for refunding backers if the author chooses not to publish (Publishizer's Terms make it very clear that they do not get involved in this process). Publishizer keeps a 30% commission (a good deal higher than other crowdfunding sites; Kickstarter's commission, for instance, is 5%).

All in all, Publishizer sounds less like a literary agency than a crowdfunding variation on the manuscript pitch sites of old, where writers posted proposals and book excerpts for publishers and literary agencies to sort through in search of new properties and clients. Most of these sites, which were billed as replacements of, or at least competitors with, the old-fashioned system of gatekeepers, no longer exist, for a simple reason: publishing professionals never really embraced them. (For a discussion of some of the reasons why, see my 2015 blog post.)

Publishizer's pre-order component does add a contemporary element, in that it could suggest reader interest to a prospective publisher (indeed, that's one way Publishizer promotes the site to publishers). But what kind of publishers actually look for authors on Publishizer? One of the historical problems with pitch sites has been that, even if they could recruit reputable users, they were just as likely to attract questionable and marginal ones. Do high-level, reputable publishers--the kind you might need an agent for--actually use Publishizer?

The answer, as far as I can tell: not so much.

A Look at Publishizer Book Deals

Take, for example, Publishizer's list of member publishers. They're categorized as traditional (no fees, high advances); independent (no fees and no or modest advances); hybrid (fees); and service (self-publishing or assisted self-publishing). There are some agent-only publishers in the first two categories--but also many that authors can approach on their own, no agent needed. Of more concern is the fact that both the "traditional" and "independent" categories include a number of publishers that are nothing of the sort: they either charge fees or have book purchase requirements. (Publishizer is aware of this: see below.) Perhaps the most egregious of these mis-listings: the one for Elm Hill, HarperCollins Christian Publishing's fantastically expensive assisted self-publishing division, which shows up under traditional publishers.

Next, Publishizer's case studies of authors who found publishers via the site. Included are some solid independents (several of which accept submissions directly from authors), and an imprint of the Big 5. However, there's also Austin Macauley, an expensive vanity publisher that I've written about here, and Harvard Square Editions, a small press that pays royalties on net profit (at substandard percentages) and at one point was requiring authors to get their mss. "externally edited".

Next, the testimonials hosted on Publishizer's homepage. These too mention a number of genuine independent publishers--but also Koehler Books, which offers "co-publishing" contracts costing several thousand dollars (yet is listed by Publishizer as an independent publisher). The testimonial that cites HarperCollins turns out actually to mean expensive self-pub provider Elm Hill (see above).

It's much the same for the "Browse Recent Deals" animation at the top of Publishizer's homepage. Alongside reputable independents are acquisitions by fee-based companies including Morgan James Publishing (like Koehler, listed as an independent publisher despite its 2,500 book purchase requirement), Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press, and i2i Publishing, plus at least three publishers that have managed to issue only one book to date: Sage & Feathers Press, Time Traveller Books, and Christel Foord. A book purportedly published by "Harper Voyage" [sic] turns out to be self-published (and no wonder: every single one of the companies that expressed interest in the writer's campaign are fee-chargers or self-publishing service providers).

Browsing recently completed campaigns makes it even clearer that pay-to-play publishers, marginal publishers, and assisted self-publishing services are major users of the site. Take a look at the publishers that expressed interest in this campaign, which I picked at random. Two have questionable contracts or business practices (Black Rose Writing and Anaphora Literary Press--I've gotten complaints about both). Two are vanities (Morgan James Publishing and Koehler Books). The rest are either fee-charging "hybrids" (I put that in quotes because most so-called hybrids are either vanities or jumped-up self-publishing service providers) or assisted self-publishing companies. Just one is a genuine independent (The Story Plant). (The author chose Morgan James.)

Or this campaign, also picked at random. There's interest from two independent publishers (Karen McDermott, about which I know nothing, but which, based on its self-description, would not seem to be appropriate for the book on offer; and SkyHorse Publishing, an established indie), plus one that has misleadingly listed itself as an independent but is actually "shared risk", a.k.a. pay-to-play (ShieldCrest Publishing). Also one questionable publisher (Anaphora again); four fee-chargers (i2i Publishing, Isabella Media Inc., WiDo Publishing, and Prodigy Gold Books, about which I've received reports of unprofessionalism); and five assisted self-publishing services. (The author chose to self-publish.)

I didn't cherry-pick those two examples, by the way. I looked at at least twenty recent campaigns, and all showed a similar pattern.

Most revealing is the list of 268 books that have been published as a result of campaigns on Publishizer. As a Publishizer representative pointed out to me, many of these campaigns are from the company's early years, when it was strictly a crowdfunding platform. But of the approximately 195 that have been published since Publishizer's publisher-matching component was launched in 2016 (and yes, I looked at every single one):

At least 16 books have been acquired by vanity publishers, including Morgan James, Austin Macauley, and Koehler Books. (Koehler has snapped up so many authors via Publishizer that it has a special page for them on its website. It even offers "a discount".)

More than 130 additional authors have chosen either to self-publish, or to pay for publication through so-called hybrids or assisted self-publishing services.

Of the remaining 45 or so books, most have found homes with smaller presses to which the authors could have submitted on their own--not all of them desirable, as noted above.

Clearly, that claim is not accurate--at least as to the "traditional" part. When I contacted Publishizer to ask about it, a company representative told me that 9 out of 10 Publishizer clients land "a" book deal, but acknowledged that the current wording of the claim is misleading and promised to flag it for the team's attention.

I asked whether Publishizer is aware that its lists of traditional and independent publishers include a number of fee-chargers. The representative indicated that Publishizer does know this. "It is no secret that some traditional publishers also offer hybrid deals or even accept payment to publish a book - it just isn't publicised. We have had hybrid publishers sign traditional deals with some of our authors."

Leaving aside other issues--including the false (but unfortunately quite common) idea that traditional publishers often engage in secret vanity deals, and the fact that publishers that rely on author fees rarely provide high-quality editing, marketing, or distribution--this obviously doesn't square with how Publishizer defines traditional and independent publishers: both, it says, "do not charge costs". When I pointed this out, the representative asked for more information. I've provided her with a list of the companies that I know offer fee-based contracts.

Finally, I asked why Publishizer believes writers benefit from having their books pitched to hybrid publishers and self-publishing service providers, which not only require payment but don't typically work with middlemen. "While we do our best to educate [authors] on the differences between self-publishing, hybrid and traditional publishing, we do not choose for them," the representative responded. "Not every book can get a traditional deal, but a lot of books have been realized through Publishizer because we present a range of publishing options that are available, and authors can choose what's best for them...as we are very invested in our authors' success, many have satisfying experiences with us."

All of which is no doubt true, but doesn't really address the question of why it's worth handing over 30% of your crowdfunding earnings for pitches that include companies that are likely to take even more of your money, and that you could just as easily approach on your own.

Conclusions

All in all, the information above suggests that if you post a proposal on Publishizer, the majority of offers you'll receive will likely not be the kind of offers you may have been hoping for, especially given how Publishizer presentsitself.

So what does Publishizer actually do for authors? Certainly it helps to generate pre-orders, and some authors have been able to raise substantial sums of money. But Publishizer's poorly-vetted group of publishing partners, top-heavy with fee-chargers, is no boon to authors--and even if the questionables were purged and the misleading listings corrected, you don't necessarily need a middleman to promote your book to independent publishers. You especially don't need an intermediary to pitch your work to fee-charging hybrids or self-publishing platforms or other types of "non-traditional publishers".

As a crowdfunding platform, Publishizer may be worth considering, despite its sizeable commission. As a "literary agency," though, it suffers from the same flaw that doomed the manuscript pitch sites of the past: top-flight publishers are scarce, while marginals and predators roam free. The company representative with whom I corresponded assured me that Publishizer is working to expand and improve its pool of traditional publishers. However, authors who are considering Publishizer for more than raising money should carefully consider how what the site currently appears able to deliver--as opposed to what it claims to deliver--dovetails with their own publishing goals.

Postscript

Despite labeling itself a literary agency, both on its website and in search results, and touting coaching during book campaigns by "our agents", Publishizer includes this disclaimer in its FAQ:

So...not an agency then. Got it.

I'm also curious about the claim that "many agents" use Publishizer. I'd be interested to hear from agents or authors who can confirm this.

Harper’s Bazaar has a proud tradition of publishing the very best in original literary fiction, including stories by Virginia Woolf, Thomas Hardy, Ali Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Continuing this legacy, we are happy to launch our annual short-story competition once again, inviting published and non-published writers to follow in the footsteps of these literary greats.

The winner of this 2,500-word short story competition will receive a two-night stay at Brownber Hall, Yorkshire, along with "the chance to see their work published". The theme is "Liberty." Entry is free, and the competition is open until midnight on March 15, 2019.

A publishing credit from Harper's would certainly be something to boast about. But there was a problem. Specifically, the grant of rights, which the entry guidelines described thus (my bolding):

By entering the competition and in consideration for Hearst publishing your entry, you assign to Hearst the entire worldwide copyright in your entry for all uses in all print and non-print media and formats, including but not limited to all rights to use your entry in any and all electronic and digital formats, and in any future medium hereafter developed for the full period of copyright therein, and all renewals and extensions thereof, any rental and lending rights and retransmission rights and all rights of a like nature wherever subsisting.

In other words, merely by entering this competition, Harper's was asking you to surrender your copyright, and all the rights that copyright includes (which meant that you could never sell or publish your story anywhere else), for zero financial compensation. Moreover, there was no language in the competition guidelines to ensure that the grant of rights would be released if you didn't win.

That's a hell of a predatory rights grab for a competition that doesn't even guarantee publication to the winner--only "the chance" of it. What's especially egregious is that there really is no benefit to Harper's of holding copyrights, rather than merely licensing publishing rights. For the winning story, a conventional grant of publication rights would surely do just as well. For non-winning stories, why lock up rights at all?

I wrote this post yesterday. I don't know if Harper's had a sudden epiphany, or if it got wind that writers were pissed off...

...but this morning, when I re-read the competition guidelines just to be 100% sure everything I wrote was accurate (I always double-check in this way before I publish), I discovered that...guess what? The copyright language was gone. Poof. Harper's guidelines for this competition now include no grant of rights--or indeed any language addressing rights at all.

It's great that Harper's retracted its copyright grab (though without acknowledging its mistake). But why include the grab in the first place? I'm continually amazed at publications that run these kinds of competitions with these kinds of predatory terms. In some cases it's greed or legal overreach. In a few cases, the publications don't understand their own guidelines language. But often, I think, it's just carelessness, or maybe heedlessness. Writers only skim guidelines, right? Especially if they're published as one looooooong block of text in italic font with no paragraph breaks. And it's just a 2,500 word story that the magazine may not even publish. So who cares?

It's a reminder, yet again, to read (and be sure you understand) the fine print.

Here's a screenshot of the original guidelines, with the copyright language down at the bottom of the screenshot. The link is to a cached version.

January 4, 2019

Happy New Year! It's time for Writer Beware's annual (well, sort of annual; I missed the last couple of years) look back at the most notable posts of 2018.

New Scams, Old Tricks
Publishing and marketing scams operating out of the Philippines first started appearing in 2014. These scams, which copy the Author Solutions business model (including expensive publishing packages and an emphasis on hugely overpriced junk marketing), in many cases have been founded and are staffed by former Author Solutions call center employees. They take the relentless cold-call solicitation and poor customer service for which AS is notorious to new levels, employing blatant falsehoods to trick authors into their clutches, and often not providing the product for which authors have paid.

This is the most pernicious new scam to come along in some time, and it has been proliferating like mad these past couple of years. I've identified over 30 companies at this point (for a full list, see the sidebar). Fortunately, since they all follow pretty much the same template, they are relatively easy to recognize, with a distinctive complex of characteristics including egregious and sometimes hilarious English-language errors on their websites and in their email pitches.

Publisher Enigmas
Would you be excited to hear about a publisher that proposed to pay you a salary for writing books, plus royalties and benefits? That's the premise of De Montfort Literature, the latest of many, many tech-oriented ventures that have sought (usually without success) to revolutionize publishing (yes, there's an algorithm). De Montfort is still auditioning authors (a process that has been curiously slow), so as yet there's no proof of concept. Plus, digging deeper into the background of De Montfort's founder turns up some very odd information.

Trademark WTF
Can an author trademark a common word--for instance, "cocky"--and then deny all other authors its use in book or series titles? You wouldn't think so, but that's what author Faleena Hopkins tried to do in 2018--including threatening legal action against authors with existing titles that included the word. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.

Bonus Weirdness
I'm including this one (about a publishing scammer also convicted of credit card fraud) because it's weird, but also because it's the single post about which I got the most harassment this year. People involved with the scammer have left comments, bombarded me with emails, threatened me with legal action, posted fake reviews on Writer Beware's Facebook page, and trolled me in public forums. Fortunately, after 20 years with Writer Beware, I have a pretty thick skin.

December 27, 2018

Last January, I wrote a post about a new and rapidly-growing scam: Philippines-based publishing and "marketing" companies that have copied the Author Solutions business model, and are using it to rip off writers. In many cases, these enterprises are run and/or staffed by former AS call center employees.

Like AS, the clones rely on misleading hype, hard-sell sales tactics, and a lucrative catalog of junk marketing services. Even if authors actually receive the services they've paid for (and judging by the complaints I've gotten, there's no guarantee of that), they are getting stiffed. These are not businesses operating in good faith, but greedy opportunists seeking to profit from writers' inexperience, ignorance, and hunger for recognition. They are exploitative, dishonest, and predatory.

The clones share a distinctive cluster of characteristics that makes them relatively easy for an alert writer to identify.

1. Solicitation. Like the Author Solutions imprints, the clones are big on out-of-the-blue phone calls and emails hawking their services. Often they'll claim your book has been recommended to them, or was discovered by one of their book scouts. Sometimes they'll claim to be literary agents looking to transition you to a traditional publishing contract. Their phone solicitors frequently have foreign accents (most are based in the Philippines). Email solicitors use a recurring set of job titles: book scout, literary agent, Senior Marketing & Publishing Consultant (or Senior Publishing & Marketing Consultant), Executive Marketing Consultant, Marketing Professional, Marketing Supervisor.

2. Offers to re-publish authors' books. A big focus for the clones is poaching authors who are already published or self-published (often with Author Solutions imprints--it's pretty clear that clone staff either maintain contacts with Author Solutions workers who feed them information, or, if they themselves formerly worked for AS, took customer information with them when they departed). They claim they can do a better job, or provide greater credibility, or boost sales, or get authors in front of traditional publishers. Not all the clones offer publishing services, but most do.

3. Elaborate claims of skills and experience that can't be verified or don't check out. A clone may say it's been in business since 2006 or 2008, even though its domain name was registered only last year. It may claim to be staffed by publishing and marketing experts with years or even decades of "combined experience", but provide no names or bios to enable you to verify this. A hallmark of the clones' "About Us" pages is a serious lack of "about."

4. Poor or tortured English. The clones have US addresses, and purport to be US-based companies. Many have US business registrations. Yet their emails and websites frequently contain numerous (and sometimes laughable) grammar and syntax errors (see below for examples). Their phone solicitors appear to be calling from US numbers, but commonly have foreign accents, and may get authors' names or book titles wrong.

5. Junk marketing. Not all the clones offer publishing services, but they all offer "marketing": press releases. Paid book review packages. Book fair exhibits. Ingram catalog listings. Hollywood book-to-screen packages. These and more are junk marketing--PR services of dubious value and effectiveness that are cheap to provide but can be sold at a huge markup. It's an insanely lucrative aspect of the author-fleecing biz, not just because of its enormous profitability, but because while you can only sell a publishing package once, you can sell marketing multiple times. The clones' marketing services are right out of the Author Solutions playbook: AS basically invented junk book marketing, and most of the marketing services offered by the clones were pioneered by AS.

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In my January 2018 post, I named and shamed the twelve clones I'd discovered up to that point. In this followup post, I name and shame the 21 additional clones I've identified since then. See below for detail on each (sorry, you have to scroll down; Blogger doesn't give me the option of inserting anchors). Also see the sidebar of this blog for the full list.

Ascribed LLC (very probably also d.b.a. Outstrip LLC)

AuthorCentrix (formerly BookBlastPro)

AuthorLair

Black Lacquer Press & Marketing

Book Agency Plus

Book Magnets

Book Reads Publishing

Book Vine Press

BookWhip / Carter Press

Capstone Media Services

Global Summit House

Goldman Agency

Maple Leaf Publishing

Matchstick Literary

Outstrip LLC (very probably also d.b.a. as Ascribed LLC)

PageTurner Press and Media

Paramount Books Media

Sherlock Press

Stonewall Press (formerly Uirtus Solutions)

URLink Print and Media

The Writer Central

To give you a sense of how fast these scams are proliferating: of the 21 companies above, 13 are less than twelve months old. The rest are less than two years old. Though they (mostly) appear separate from one another, I suspect that many are in fact run by the same people; there are a number of similarities that, while not conclusive, are extremely suggestive. For instance, there's considerable data to suggest that Outstrip LLC and Ascribed LLC are in fact the same operation. And both Outstrip and Ascribed share language, services, or both with Sherlock Press and Stonewall Press.

There also appears to be a relationship between the clones and a pay-to-play book review service that operates under two names: Hollywood Book Reviews and Pacific Book Review. A large number of clones include reviews from this service in their marketing packages (as, in fact, does Author Solutions). Some apparently do such volume business that they have their ownpaymentpages.

The clones do compete with one another. Here's Book Reads Publishing trying to do down The Writer Central (at this poor author's expense):

And here's what AuthorLair sent to a writer who mentioned being solicited by another clone, Westwood Books Publishing (nice to know my watchdog activities are benefiting the scammers):

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There are no publishing services at Ascribed LLC (though it's early days: Ascribed only registered its domain in August 2018)--just a full suite of junk marketing services right out of the Author Solutions playbook. English-language lapses are evident throughout the website ("We are a group of people whose passion for books influenced us to be staunch of literature and literacy"). Ascribed also appears to be unequal to the challenge of correctly matching author names and book titles with cover photos.

Although I'm listing them separately here, I believe there's a strong probability that Ascribed LLC and Outstrip LLC (see below) are the same operation. The similarities:

Both Ascribed and Outstrip are registered as LLCs in the state of Delaware.

A number of other clones use more than one name (with no hint or acknowledgment of the connection): LitFire Publishing d.b.a. Amelia Book Company and Amelia Publishing; Westwood Books Publishing d.b.a. Authors Press; Book Art Press d.b.a. Window Press Club; Okir Publishing d.b.a. ADbook Press and Coffee Press.

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AuthorCentrix used to call itself BookBlastPRO. Bothbusinesses were incorporated in California in February 2017 by Daniel Fernandez. Further (inadvertent) evidence of the connection is here. Note the fake founding date:

AuthorCentrix's menu of Author Solutions-style publishing and marketing services conveniently omits pricing, but per documentation sent to me by a solicited author, the "exclusive" book fair marketing package--a complete and total waste of money--costs $1,899. There's even a brand new AuthorCentrix Magazine, full of ads and features for which authors no doubt had to pay a fortune (AuthorCentrix isn't the only clone that promotes these undistributed pay-to-play magazines: Outstrip and Stonewall Press have GoldCrest Magazine--see below--and Legaia Books, which I discussed in a previous post, has Paperclips Magazine).

I've gotten reports of solicitation. In one case, an AuthorLair "Senior Book Publicist" attempted to steer a writer away from fellow clone Westwood Books Publishing...by citing one of my blog posts:

Among the array of logos on AuthorLair's website footer is one for Pacific Book Review, a pay-to-play review service that, along with its "parent" company Hollywood Book Reviews, is often used by the clones.

Book Agency Plus ("Empowering Authors is our source of Empowerment") doesn't provide publishing services--just "marketing platforms." It has a rudimentary and mostly nonfunctional website, but its social media is active and I got a report of solicitation in mid-September (an offer of a "podcast interview" for $600)--so unlike some of the clones, which pop into existence and vanish in a matter of months, it does seem to be operating, at least for now (its domain was registered in September 2017).

On display is the typical nonsensical English ("We go by our ultimate vision to give authors the so-called, 'collaboration'"), as well as the usual windy and unverifiable claims of expertise. Most of the website links for the "featured authors" don't work, and for those that do, all are published either by one of the other clones or an Author Solutions imprint.

Book Agency Plus (along with fellow clone Okir Publishing) caught the eye of ALLi watchdog John Doppler earlier this year.

Despite its name, BookMagnets doesn't appear to currently offer publishing services, just a familiar menu of Author Solutions-style junk marketing. As often with the clones, there's no pricing (but see below: it ain't cheap). BookMagnets' website is relatively free of the English-language errors that afflict so many of the clones--but not so its correspondence. Here's the solicitation one author received:

BookMagnets provided the same author with a link to one of its marketing campaigns. Apart from the fact that there's no way the campaign is worth nearly $1,400, the book being promoted was published by PublishAmerica, which went out of business last fall without bothering to return rights. PublishAmerica books are still for sale on Kindle--but if anyone buys them, the author will never get any of the royalties due, because there's nowhere to send the sales income. The author who paid for this campaign got zero return from from his large financial investment, even in the unlikely event that the campaign produced results.

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Like many of the clones, Books Reads Publishing was established just in the past year: its domain was registered in June 2018. In addition to a full complement of clone characteristics, it is also the promulgator of a particularly deceptive marketing pitch that involves posing as Penguin Random House.

The price for this "cinematic book trailer?" Just a few thousand dollars (note the pretense that the author's share is only half the cost):

I've gotten several complaints about unauthorized credit card charges by some of the clones, so the assurance about "no Automatic Charges" rings a bit hollow.

Like all the clones, Book Reads Publishing has Philippine connections--for instance, its web designer.

Here's one of its solicitations, complete with fractured English. I've heard from several authors who received this identical email--just their name and book title switched out:

Like many clones, Book Vine Press doesn't include any prices on its website, but here's the offer associated with the solicitation above:

Note the claim of "our own physical bookstore in Chicago." There's no evidence any such store exists.

Two testimonials on Book Vine's website extol the wonderfulness of the authors' publishing experiences. However, both authors are published not by Book Vine, but by fellow clone Greenberry Publishing, which last year changed its name to Westwood Books Publishing and also does business as Authors Press. I think there's a pretty strong possibility that Book Vine is running under the same roof.

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Like many clones, Bookwhip is of recent origin: its domain was registered in November 2017--though you'd never know that (or anything else) based on its detail-free About Us page.

Here's the solicitation pitch BookWhip sends in email, shared with me by an author who received it (re-publishing! Plus a book agent! For just $1,250 per book!). BookWhip's basic publishing package is low-priced for a clone, but that's only because its real aim is to ensnare authors so they can be persuaded to buy costly marketing services, including book fair promos and "indie movie production" (it's no accident that these services are non-refundable).

Unusually, BookWhip voluntarily reveals its connection with fellow clone Carter Press, which provides very similar services. From a recently-received solicitation, in which the clones' typical shaky English is on full display:

Bookwhip has a California business registration. Interestingly, its street address on that registration is an exact match for the address of something called Creativity Books California LLC. Creativity Books does business as Authors Press, a clone that is a d.b.a. of yet another clone, Westwood Books Publishing (are you confused yet?):

There actually is a Creative Books store at the Buchanan Road address, and a 30-day display there is part of some of the book fair "marketing" packages offered by Authors Press. As you can see from these photos, it's mostly a school and parties supply store in a strip mall, but there is a rack of books.

Is BookWhip run by the same people who are running Westwood Books Publishing and Authors Press? Wouldn't surprise me. Regardless, it's the same kind of scam.

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Some of the clones have their faulty English under decent control, and exhibit only occasional lapses. Not so Capstone Media Services. Its self-description sounds like it was written by Gollum: "We are an Illustrations and Marketing Service Provider that designs custom illustrations and logos that transform your imaginations into life. We also specializes in helping exceptional authors publish their literary creations."

About the (whoppingly expensive) Book Translations service, Capstone has this to say: "Your book will be translated in different languages...This will make your book as one of the 'purple cow' as we call it. Stands out among others." Well, who wouldn't want that? Then there's the Audiobook service: "Here in Capstone Media, we offer you one price for the three voice talents – Australian, British and American Voice Talents. This refers to accents." Thanks for clarifying that.

Author and anti-scam activist David Gaughran reports a recent rash of solicitations by Capstone:

WARNING: Capstone Media Services are cold calling authors with highly questionable marketing packages of dubious quality costing thousands of dollars. Of course, one of the suspect packages is a @PublishersWkly one because they will take money from anyone. @VictoriaStrausspic.twitter.com/PHbOJ6wrwc

Capstone, which registered its domain in August 2018, claims a prestigious address: 14 Wall Street, Manhattan. It has no business registration in New York State, however, and per this exhibitor list from the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair, it is actually located in...surprise! the Philippines.

And that's not all! Global Summit House wants to be your literary agent! I've seen several email solicitations with "representation offers", which include a literary agent contract that's just official-looking enough to possibly fool someone who doesn't have much experience (though not someone who knows that reputable literary agents don't charge upfront fees). There's also a "marketing and advertising proposal" that "includes a Literary Agent" and claims a "partnership" with Publishers Weekly. A slightly different proposal touts an "Undervalued Self-Published Books Campaign" (which tells you all you need to know about Global Summit House's target demographic):

Global Summit House registered its domain in May 2018, but has no business registration in New York State, where it claims it's located. Unlike some of the clones, it hasn't fully anonymized its Philippine origins:

This complaint provides a good snapshot of Goldman's M.O.--and its prices.

Note: The Goldman Agency I'm talking about here is not to be confused with The David Goldman Agency, which represents illustrators.

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The supposedly Canadian Maple Leaf Publishing is the only clone I've found that doesn't claim a US location. It's also one of the babies of the bunch, with a domain registered in September 2018.

Maple Leaf offers a familiar roster of Author Solutions-style publishing and junk marketing services, with the emphasis on the marketing. Also familiar: its specifics-free About Us page, which, like the entire website, has a definite ESL vibe. The folks at Maple Leaf did call in quality control, though, because here's how that page read when I researched Maple Leaf a few weeks ago:

For authors who accept this dubious invitation, an array of clone-standard, Author Solutions-style publishing and marketing services await (you can judge the quality of MatchStick's video trailers, if you dare, here). As with many of the clones, there are no prices (it's easier to hook your victims if you can get them on the phone). Other telltale signs of clonage include no verifiable information about history or staff, and seriously fractured English ("Setting up an absolute campaign that bank majorly on a specific factor might deem crucial.").

Here's what MatchStick claims as its "Track Records" (also note the false claim of 3 years in business). Most of the books exist, but just about everything else is a lie (and I checked every single claim).

Like so many clones, Matchstick is of recent origin: its domain was registered in September 2018. It uses a New Jersey address, but as of this writing, has no business registration in that state.

It also seems to be suffering from some name confusion, at least based on this job listing recently posted to its Facebook page:

Job location? Mandaue City, Philippines.

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Outstrip LLCis just under a year old, with a domain name registered in January 2018. It offers offers a full menu of Author Solutions-style publishing and marketing services, complete with more-than-usually stupid names (my fave is the "Sempiternal", aptly titled for the sempiternal hole it will put in your bank account). And holy crap, are they expensive. The Eclipse marketing package, which consists basically of garbage, will set you back over $17,000.

Bad English is on prominent display on Outstrip's website--check out, for instance, this illiterate blog post--and in its Twitter feed. On Medium, a profile called Felicia Stone is the purported author of a series of equally badly-written articles, in which all the links point to Outstrip.

Although I'm listing them separately here, I believe there's a strong probability that Outstrip and Ascribed LLC (see above) are the same operation. The similarities:

Both Outstrip and Ascribed are registered as LLCs in the state of Delaware.

I've gotten a number of reports from authors who have been solicited out of the blue by PageTurner Press and Media. Like many clones, PageTurner actively attempts to poach authors from their current publishers or self-pub platforms, claiming that its "agents" or "scouts" have discovered the author's book and that it can offer a better deal than the author's current situation. Here's PageTurner's re-publication pitch, included with the email solicitation it sent to one AuthorHouse-published author. Fortunately, the author smelled a rat and contacted me. Note the characteristically poor English:

Price tag for this PUBLISHING GRANT? Just $10,000.

In addition to publishing packages, PageTurner's array of "Powerhouse Services" (a.k.a junk marketing) reads like it was ripped from the website of an Author Solutions imprint (which of course is no accident). Its About Us page exhibits the usual windy and unverifiable claims of experience ("PageTurner, Press and Media is a rebranding of an institution that used to operate in the shadows of other publishing firms as a trusted provider of vendible [sic] titles"), including a claim to have "officially opened its doors" in the summer of 2016, a whole year before it registered its web domain. There's even a bogus award.

There are also what look like connections to other clones. There are substantial similarities in the wording of Sherlock's Terms of Service and Payment and Refund Policy to similar documents on the websites of Outstrip and Ascribed LLC (both of which I've covered above). They even talk to each other on Twitter:

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Stonewall Pressoriginally called itself Uirtus Solutions (Uirtus's website is dead, but here's its corpse, courtesy of the Wayback Machine). The connection is confirmed by this complaint at the Better Business Bureau, and also by identical origin stories (Uirtus supposedly "started out in 2007 as a Movie & Gaming Animation Company", while Stonewall was "established in 2007" with a "specialty...in animated media – movie, gaming, and marketing animation").

In fact, Uirtus Solutions didn't file articles of organization until September 2017, in South Carolina. It terminated itself on November 13, just two months later--and just a few days after Stonewall Press filed a trade name application in Maryland. Based on the different personal names involved (Richzer Villamor for Uirtus and Ivan Bacayo Verallo for Stonewall), it may be that the business did change hands--but clearly Stonewall is a continuation of Uirtus.

I've received several reports from authors who received email solicitations for re-publishing or marketing by Stonewall Press, and more complaints about solicitation can be found at PissedConsumer, many of them describing out-of-the-blue phone calls by heavily-accented telemarketers. Stonewall's Twitter account was recently suspended.

You also get an ad in GoldCrest Magazine, which has no independent existence apart from Stonewall and another clone, Outstrip, which also sells GoldCrest ads as part of some of its packages.

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URLink Print and Media purports to be located in Wyoming, and it is indeed registered there, with a filing dated March 7, 2018. Its domain was created just a month prior, in February 2018. These two dates would seem to belie the (unverifiable, as usual) self-description on its website, which claims that URLink has been in business for "years".

I've heard from a number of writers who have been solicited by URLink. Here's a typical approach--the pretense of a recommendation from "book scouts" is a common clone ploy:

URLink's website offers the typical range of Author Solutions-style publishing and marketing services, couched in the typical fractured English ("Authoring a book could be a facile activity to the most passionate writers"). There's even a gallery section, where you can view the (ahem) high-quality product you can expect to get for your money.

On its About Us page, The Writer Centralclaims that it "started out as a ghostwriter service provider that helps aspiring writers and authors bring their stories and ideas into published materials since 2008." How odd, then, that its web domain was created only in February 2018, and that it has no business registration in New York State, where it claims to be located. (One also might hope for better English from an English-language ghostwriting service--just saying.)

I've heard from several writers who were solicited by The Writer Central with "representation" offers. Similar reports can be found online. Like several of the other clones, TWC claims that it can help authors transition to traditional publishing by re-publishing and "circulating" their books.

This wonderful offer includes production of "500 copies of your book for circulation in more than 25,000 bookstores worldwide" and pitches to traditional publishers:

Who could resist? But there's a catch:

The pretense of a co-investment is a classic vanity publisher ploy.

For authors looking for some idea of what their re-published book might look like, there are cover images on TWC's home page, along with touching testimonials from the authors. Just one problem: not one of these books--or authors--actually exists (I checked).

TWC's Services page (which is not currently linked into its website menu) touts a range of familiar publishing and marketing packages. There are no details or prices; the only option is to click a button to "reserve your spot now". This delivers you to a scheduling page, which includes this revealing information: